Apparatus for raising sunken ships.



.APPARATUS Fon RAISING Sunken SHIPS.

v (Application med oct. 11, 190m v2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(llo Model.)

Inventor Jutwnmwwi ulexamlre deXowan/ Patented 1an. 2r; |901 M.BouHANovsKv a A. DE KowANKo.

APPARATUS Fon nAlsm sunken sHlPs.

(Application led Oct. 11, 1901A 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

l/llmmzr@ akjfowazzy l?! of Fig. 1.

' UNITED STATES PATENT Ormes.

MATIEU BOURHANOVSKY, OF LIBAU, AND ALEXANDRE DE KOWANKO,'

OF ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO AUGUST POTOCKI, OFVARSAW, A RUSSIA.

APPARATUS' FOR RAISING SUNKEN SHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 691,713, dated January21, 1902.

Application filed October 11, 1901.v Serial No. 78,362. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it'knowu that we, MATIEU BOURHAN- ovsKo, residing at Libau, andALEXANDRE DE KOWANKO, residing Iat St. Petersburg, Russia, subjects ofthe Emperor of Russia, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Raising Sunken Ships .or other Objects, of which thefollowing is a specification.

It is well known thatsunken-objects, such as ships, can be raised byconnecting them to hollow vessels which are filled with air or anysuitable gas by means of an air-compressor located above the surface ofthe water and a suitable connecting-pipe.

Now this invention relates to an improved t hollow vessel which althoughit is-very light in weight and ischeap to construct enables acomparatively large and perfectly constant lifting power to be obtainedand admits of the use of comparatively weak material in consequence ofan automatic adjustment of the internal and external pressures.

Figure 1 ofthe accompanying drawingsshows a side elevation of such ahollow body. Figs. 2 and 3 are cross-sections corresponding,respectively, to the lines A B and O D Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectionthrough the inner bag, which is gas and water tight. Figs. 5 and 6 showtwo methods of attaching the hollow body to the vessel, and Figs. 7 and8 show details of the apparatus.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 to 4, the hollow body comprises aniniiatable receptacle a, which is gas and water tight, and as ,it servesonly for containing the air pumped inV `can be made of a comparativelythin and` weak fabric or material. The inner receptacle a is inclosed inan outer envelop b,which is made of astronger fabric or material, suchas sail-cloth, and prevents the receptacle a from expanding too much. Itacts as a protecting device for the same, so that it does not require tobe gas or water tight. For the purpose .of carrying the load a cover c,made of stron g fabric or of netting,is placed around the envelop b, onthe upper side thereof. This cover c is preferably provided on its loweredges with a hollow seam d, through which there is drawn a ropef for thepurpose of strengthening it. Carrying ropes are drawn through holes g inthe seam, and a large number of them are combined at the lower ends andpassed through rings i, Fig. vl, or are arranged parallel to one anotherand connected to a series of brackets, Fig. 6, or to longitudinal barse, connecting the said brackets. Through the ringst' there is passed asparj, which facilitates the handling of the hollow body and enables itto be adjusted in the horizontal plane. The spar j,which under .certaincircumstances has to stand a considerable bending strain, is made of achanneliron beam 7c and two channel-shaped externally-rounded bars Z,which are placed above and'below the said beam. f

For the purpose of attaching the hollow body to the vessel or the liketo be raised carriers m, Fig. 5, or brackets fm', Fig. 6, are preferablyused and are placed so that the hollow body does not come into contactwith the side n of the ship. If it should be difficult touse suchcarriers, hooks may be attached to the siden of the ship, as shown inFig. 8, bypassing chains p and iron bars q through holes o in the sunkenship and then bringing the iron bars into the position shown by drawingthe chain tight.

For the purpose of forcing out the water in a uniform manner and eectingan automatic adjustment of the pressures thefollowing arrangement isused: As will be seen from Figs. l, 2, 3, 4, and 6, the receptacle a isprovided on its upper side with an air-inlet opening 1' and twoair-outlet openings s, to the latter of which iexible tubes t, extendingalmost to the bottom of the receptacle, are attached. At

the lowest part of the receptacle a there are f level cannot sink lower,since the air can es?Y cape through the tubes t. The quantity of waterforced out depends on the length of the tubes t-that is to say, of thedistance of the lower ends of these tubes from the bottomn and can beregulated by altering the length of these tubes according to the liftingpower desired. For this purpose cords w are insert ed in the tubes t,Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and are attached to the lower ends thereof, so thatwhen these cords are drawn up the tubes are shortened or raised. Whenthe external pressure decreases as the hollow body rises during thelifting, an automatic adjustment of the internal and external pressurestakes place, since the air in the interior of the hollow body expandsand escapes through the tubes f. The quantity of water forced out andthe lifting power of the hollow body remain the same. The strain on thereceptacle a is very slight in consequence of the automatic adjustmentof the pressures. It is advantageous to make the receptacle somewhatlarger in diameter than the outerenve1op,'so that the former will becomecorrugated when the outerenvelop is eXpanded,Figs. 2, 3, and G.

'We claim l. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, an inflatablereceptacle provided with suitable inlets and outlets, tubes dependinginto said receptacle from said outlets, and means for adjusting saidtubes.

2. In an apparatus for raising sunken 0bjects, an inflatable receptacleprovided with a suitable inlet and outlets, tubes depending into saidreceptacle from said outlets, means for adjusting said tubes, asupporting-cover, means for reinforcing the edges of said cover, aseries of ropes connected to the cover, and means connected with theropes for facilitating the handling and adjustment of the apparatus.

3. In au apparatus for raising sunken objects, an inflatable receptacleprovided with suitable inlet and outlets, tubes depending into saidreceptacle from said outlets, means for adjusting said tubes, asupporting-cover mounted upon the receptacle, and means connected withthe supporting-cover for attaching the apparatus to the object to beraised.

4. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, a receptacle providedwith suitable inlet and outlets, flexible tubes depending into saidreceptacle from said outlets, and means for adjusting said tubes.

5. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, a receptacle adapted tobe inflated and provided with a suitable inlet, adjustable outlet-tubesdepending into said receptacle, a cover mounted upon the receptacle, andmeans connected with the cover for attaching the apparatus to the objectto be raised.

G. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, a receptacle adapted tobe inflated and provided with a suitable inlet, an envelop for the saidreceptacle, a cover mounted upon the envelop and provided withreinforced edges, adjustable outlet-tubes dependinginto said receptacle,and means connected with the cover for connecting the apparatus to theobject to be raised.

7. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, an inflatable innerreceptacle, an outer envelop for limiting the expansion of thereceptacle, a supporting-cover, ropes attached to the edges of saidcover, and a spar connected with the ropes to facilitate the handlingand adjustment of the apparatus.

8. In an apparatus for raising sunken objects, a receptacle providedwith outlet-openings, and flexible air-outlet tubes depending from saidoutlets for determining the quam tity of air contained in the apparatusand consequently its lifting power and enabling an automatic adjustmentof the pressures to be obtained with a uniform displacement of thewater.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, a receptacle, a covertherefor, means connected with the cover for attaching the apparatus tothe object to be raised,and means connected to the receptacle fordetermining the quantity of air contained in the apparatus andconsequently its lifting power, and enabling an automatic adjustment ofthe pressures to be obtained for a uniform displacement of' the water.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of twosubscribing witmesses.

MATIEU BOURHANOVSKY. ALEXANDRE DE KOWANKO. Witnesses:

NADEJDA FoMIN, DAVID B. MAccowAN.

